Tea gowns were worn for entertaining at home during the waning hours of the afternoon. They occupied a place somewhere between dress and undress, and in the 1910s they often featured an unorthodox combination of colors and materials. This tea gown is trimmed with thick bands of mink, exemplifying the increasingly opulent design of interior garments during the early decades of the twentieth century. In 1922, etiquette expert Emily Post described the tea gown as “a hybrid between a wrapper and a ball dress.”

Object Number: 90.180.4

Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
Seventh Avenue at 27 Street
New York City 10001-5992